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What's a sump


tinytawnykitten

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A sump is simply a secondary tank located below the main tank, usually connected by way of an overflow and return pump. They are used to 'hide' heaters and other equipment out of view (particularly with marine tanks), and in some cases have seperate lighting etc and are used as 'refugiums' to grow algae and little critters that would otherwise be consumed if the fish could get to them.

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Looks complicated, Why would ya have one for freshwater tank when u can buy external filters????? :oops:

only looks complicated because that is a sump on a marine tank

on a freshwater system it is not that complicated, water in , pump out

i find it cheaper than a canister with the same flow rate, also a lot more media area

but then i make the sumps myself, if your getting one made probably better off with the canister

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yeah, fresh water sumps really easy, mine just has a overflow with the water flowing into a bucket with media, theres a few holes at the bottom of the bucket, and a pump just pumps back up any water that flows down. speaking of which, anyone else on here running a full siphon?

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i have a full siphon on my marine tank, livingart full siphon is where you have a tap on the inlet to your sump you can then throttle the amount of water flowing in the sump. you throttle it so the water level is a couple of inches above your standpipe and hen you avoid the noisy gurgling sucking noise

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Looks complicated, Why would ya have one for freshwater tank when u can buy external filters????? :oops:

Why would anyone buy canister filters when for the same price (or less) you can build a sump with more and better filtration, as well as increasing the overall system volume and getting the heaters out of the display tank? :wink:

Sump2.jpg

That's a pretty basic diagram of a fresh water sump, one of the big advantages is that buy having media above the water level you get more bacteria growing because of the higher oxygen levels.

IMO a 'full syphon' sounds like trouble, it seems like a good way to overflow the tank...

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true... but it doesnt make ANY sound, i just have another hole drilled with a pipe going straight into the tank, so if the bottom hole gets blocked, the water will just flow out the top hole instead. and if i see the water level in the overflow increases to hole 2, then ill just unclog hole 1, so far that havnt happened yet :P

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Thats a good idea having a secondary overflow so you can't overflow the tank. I'd still rather just get used to the noise, I had a 5'x2'x2' in my bedroom on an open 4x2 stand with a big sump and big pumps, after a week or two I didn't even notice it.

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nah much better to have a quiet overflow, and have a secondary backup. Im redoing my marine tank at the moment and as well as the secondary overflow i'm adding in one of the aquamedic overflow strainers. essentially its a overflow pipe with lots of slits in it so if the top hole gets blocked it will still drain

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